Infectious diseases (London, England)
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Meta Analysis
Effectiveness and safety of oseltamivir for treating influenza: an updated meta-analysis of clinical trials.
Oseltamivir has been widely used to treat patients with influenza; however, its effects have been debated. Recently, a new meta-analysis on the controversial topic of oseltamivir's effectiveness found that the drug reduces the duration of influenza symptoms and the risk of hospitalization, while increasing the risk of nausea and vomiting. Unfortunately, the analysis did not include articles published in Chinese. Thus, we performed an updated meta-analysis by adding more studies in China. ⋯ Oseltamivir can effectively alleviate the symptoms of influenza and reduce hospitalization, antibiotic usage, and the risk of otitis media without significantly increasing the rate of adverse drug reactions.